The Mechanics of a Magazine by Reginald Bragonier, Jr.; David J. FisherReview by: Mary BiggsThe Library Quarterly, Vol. 55, No. 3 (Jul., 1985), p. 356Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4307883 .

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356 THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY

experienced scientist/science editor, but his discussion and recommendations can also benefit scholarly editors in the social sciences, humanities, and profes- sions. The book's title suggests it will be useful primarily to new editors. How- ever, veteran editors will find that it stimulates a fresh look around the office, a reexamination, and ideas for revision, of inefficient or insensitive customary practices that have come to be taken for granted.-Mary Biggs, University of Chicago

Copywriter's Handbook: A Practical Guide for Advertising and Promotion of Specialized and Scholarly Books and Journals. By NAT G. BODIAN. Philadelphia: ISI Press, 1984. Pp. xx+277. $29.95 in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, $32.95 in all other countries (cloth). ISBN 0-89495-040-1. $19.95 in the United States, Canada, Mexico, $22.95 in all other countries (paper). ISBN 0-89495-039-8.

Written by an author with over twenty-five years of experience in preparing promotional materials for scholarly books and journals, this manual for copy- writers covers in well-organized chapters such technical matters as fitting copy and writing heads as well as the presentation of tested ideas for promotion. Included is a copywriter's glossary. Intended as a desk reference book for copywriters, it will also be useful to librarians and library school administrators who need to supervise the production of promotional materials.-Howard W. Winger, University of Chicago

The Mechanics of a Magazine. By REGINALD BRAGONIER, JR., and DAVID J. FISHER. New York: Popular Mechanics, 1984. Pp. 56. $19.95.

Using Popular Mechanics as a case in point, this large-format, lavishly illustrated manual describes each step of mass-magazine production and distribution. In- cluded are elements of editorial practice; design, illustration, printing, imposi- tion, and binding; and how to attract and handle advertisements and subscrip- tions. A section on distribution to stores and newsstands deals too briefly with this crucial, fairly complex operation.

Each clearly written section is accompanied by illustrative artwork (usually in color) that considerably exceeds the text in amount of space consumed. When appropriate, terms and arrows overlay a picture or diagram, labeling its parts for the reader. For example, we are told the jargon phrases for sections of a 'jump page"; are given the explanation of a Standard Rate and Data Service entry; and are shown "brick symbolia," "boozex," "plewds," and other parts of a typical cartoon.

This slim volume would serve well as a textbook for a basic course in magazine production or as a guide for a new employee in the publishing industry. It would also be an informative supplementary source for mass communications courses.-Mary Biggs, University of Chicago

Radical Media: The Political Experience of Alternative Communications. By JOHN DOWNING. Boston: South End Press, 1984. Pp. 370. ISBN 0-89608-192-3 (cloth); 0-89608-191-5 (paper).

Downing describes this as "the first comparative treatment in detail of the political experiences of organizing 'self-managed' media" (foreword). He is especially interested in the internal structure of media organizations run by radical groups and the extent to which these structures succeed in mirroring the

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